TAXONOMY 
277 
the surface of the ground as a button similar to that of the edible 
mushroom. This enlarges and assumes a dumbbell shape. The 
whole button is covered by an outer veil, known as the velum univer¬ 
sale, which encloses the pileus, gills and stipe. As the stipe lengthens 
more rapidly than the pileus, the upper part of the veil is stretched 
and finally breaks in its middle portion. The lower part remains as 
Fig. 146.—The deadly amanita, Amanita phalloides. Note the cup at the base 
of the stipe. (Gager, from photo by E. M. Kittredge .'l 
a cup, out of which the stipe grows. The upper part is carried up as 
shreds adhering to the margin of the pileus. The lower part is 
called the volva or death cup. The annulus present is a false annulus, 
for it represents a peeling down of the upper part of the stipe. Both 
have chalk-white gills, a white stipe, and white spores. 
